Package of headed rivets

ABSTRACT

Headed rivets are packaged in rows in head to tail relationship between two webs which are adhered or otherwise fastened together in face to face relationship, the zones of the webs overlying the row of rivets having lines of weakness which extend transversely across the row of rivets and the heads of the rivets penetrate the webs along lines of weakness.

United States Patent 1 1 Skinner 1 July 24, 1973 PACKAGE 0F HEADED RIVETS 2,868,437 1 1959 Greenhuis 206 65 R ux [75] Inventor: Edward Albert Skinner, Town f f gg Centre, Hatfield, Hartfordshire, 3:269:53] 8/1966 Weiss 206/65 E England 2,706,039 4/1955 Springate 206/65 R [73] Assignee: Aerpat A.G., Zug, Switzerland Primary Examiner-Herbert F. Ross [22] Ffled' May 1971 Assistant Examiner-Steven E. Lipman [21] Appl. No.: 148,068 Attorney-Kemon, Palmer & Estabrook [52] US. Cl. 206/56 DF, 206/56 A [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl 365d 83/00 [58] Field of Search 85/17, 18; 206/46 H, H :vets are p kagbed 1E r(lJ1ws 1n giad t: ta l riela- 206/46 GT, 56 A, 56 AB, 56 Ac, 56 DF, 65 9 s if 1 R, 65 K 66, 80 R, DIG. 18; 227/136 wise astene toget er in acc to ace re at lons 1p, e zones of the webs overlying the row of rivets having [561 1152121221522 ;15:1;:1; 2515112331132: :1:

UNITED STATES PATENTS webs along lines of weakness. 3,486,613 12/1969 Skinner 206/56 DF 1,445,795 2/1923 Parker 206/80 R UX 13 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented July 24 1973 K 3,747,747

INVENTOR Eowmw A. fiH/NNER JT/MI l yzw ATTORNEYS PACKAGE F BEADED RIVETS The invention relates to a package, and more particularly to a package incorporating a row of headed rivets arranged in line in head-to-tail relationship.

By headed rivet is meant a rivet of the type comprising a shank or body and a head which is enlarged transversely of the shank and is relatively thin in the direction along the shank.

The invention provides a package comprising a row of headed rivets arranged in line in head-to-tail relationship, and two webs of packaging material secured together in face-to-face relationship with the row of rivets between them, at least one of the webs having a plurality of lines of weakness over a zone thereof which is spaced from the edges of the web and which overlies the row of rivets, the lines of weakness being parallel to the direction of transverse enlargement of the heads of the adjacent rivets, part of the head of each rivet protruding through an opening in the web along one of the aforesaid lines of weakness.

It is to be understood that the two webs of packaging material may be provided either by two initially separate webs or by a single web which is folded longitudinally so as to have two parts on opposite sides of the fold, the two parts effectively constituting the two webs between which the rivets are disposed and the fold effectively constituting one edge of each effective web.

A package according to the invention may be made by bringing together two webs of packaging material in face-to-face relationship with the row of rivets between them, at least one of the webs having a plurality of lines of weakness over a zone thereof which overlies the row of rivets, the lines of weakness being parallel to the direction of transverse enlargement of the heads of the adjacent rivets and causing part of the head of each rivet to penetrate the web along one of the aforesaid lines of weakness; and securing the two webs together to retain the row of rivets therein.

Preferably both of the webs have a plurality of lines of weakness extending over a zone thereof as aforesaid, and different parts of the head of each rivet penetrate I the two webs respectively as aforesaid.

Preferably the spacing between adjacent lines of weakness is very much less than the spacing between adjacent rivet heads in the row. The length of each line of weakness may be less than the length of the opening in the web through which the rivet head protrudes.

The lines of weakness may be in the form of cuts which extend partly or entirely through the thickness of the web.

Preferably the lines are spaced apart by distances substantially less than the length of a line. The webs may be secured together by an adhesive. The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive and may be a pressure sensitive adhesive which has low tack but which will adhere readily to a like coating.

The web having the lines of weakness may be formed of paper. Both webs of the package may be formed of paper.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a plan view of one face of a short section of a paper tape constituting a web for packaging according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view, part broken away, of part of a package formed by two of the tapes shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line III-III of FIG. 2.

The paper tape 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 has a zone 12 formed with lines of weakness 13. The zone 12 extends centrally along the length of the tape and is spaced away from both edges of the tape. The lines of weakness are straight and parallel to each other and extend in a direction at right-angles to the length of the tape 1 1 and the zone 12. The spacing between adjacent lines 13 is very much less than the length of each line of weakness and in this example this spacing is about one quarter of the length of a line.

In this example, the lines of weakness take the form of cuts or indentations into one face of the paper tape extending about half-way through the thickness of the tape. These cuts or indentations may be made, for example, by passing the tape between two steel rollers which press against the two faces of the tape, one roller having a suitably corrugated face (i.e. having elongated teeth or ribs with sharpened edges), and the other roller having a plain surface.

The other face of the paper tape (i.e. the face which does not have the cuts or indentations) is coated with a low tack (i.e. not very sticky) adhesive of the type which does not tend to adhere to other smooth surfaces but which will adhere firmly to a surface coated with a like adhesive (and in particular to the coated face of another similar piece of paper tape) when the two coated faces are pressed into contact.

A package formed by using two of the tapes illustrated in FIG. 1 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The package contains a row 14 of headed rivets 15. Each rivet comprises a shank 16 having at one end a transversely enlarged head 17 which is relatively thin in the direction along the shank. Each rivet is tubular, having a central bore 18 running throughout its length. In the package, the rivets are arranged with the tail end of one rivet in contact with the head end of the next adjacent rivet, the bores of all the rivets being in alignment and retained in a substantially straight line by the package, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The package comprises two paper tapes 21, 22 overlying each other and secured together by adhesion between their respective adhesive coated faces which are mutually in contact. In FIG. 2, part of the nearer tape 21 is shown broken away to reveal the adhesive coated face of the other tape 22 and part of the row of rivets. The zone 12 containing lines of weakness 13 of each of these two tapes also overlies the row of rivets, the zone extending transversely of the row over a distance rather greater than the external diameter of the rivet shanks 16 but less than the external diameter of the rivet heads 17. It will be seen that each rivet head protrudes through both of the paper tapes, through openings which result from the breaking of the tape along an appropriately placed line of weakness 13. It will be seen from FIG. 3 that the two tapes 21, 22 are not in contact over a central strip which is slightly wider than the external diameter of the rivet shanks 16, but narrower than the external diameter of the heads 17, since the two tapes diverge around the rivet shanks 16, thereby enclosing the rivet shanks in the package.

The illustrated package is formed by bringing together the adhesive coated faces of the two tapes, with the row of rivets centrally between the zones containing the lines of weakness. One way of doing this is to continuously feed the two tapes from spaced apart positions into the nip ofa pair of suitably profiled resilient rollers whilst simultaneously feeding rivets tail end first, and in head-to-tail contact, centrally between the tapes. Another way is to support the row of several rivets on a rod or mandrel which is passed through their bores and then press the two lengths of tape together in face-to-face relationship, one on each side of the row and secure the tapes together with the rivets between them. Whatever the exact method of bringing together the two tapes to envelop the row of rivets, the head of each rivet is caused to penetrate each paper tape, as the two tapes are brought together, by breaking the tape along one or more of the lines of weakness. The rivet head also penetrates the tape along an extension beyond each end of that line of weakness, since the diameter of the rivet head is longer than the line of weakness. It should be noted that the lines of weakness on the tape are spaced together relatively closely, compared with the distance between the heads of successive rivets (in this example, the spacing between adjacent lines 13 is about one eighth of the distance between adjacent rivet heads 17). As a result, the exact position of a rivet head in the direction along the length of the zone of lines of weakness is not critical. If a rivet head happens to meet the tape immediately along a line of weakness in the tape, the rivet head penetrates straight through the tape along the line of weakness. If a rivet head meets the tape at a position between two adjacent lines of weakness, the tape distorts and tension is applied to the tape across the lines of weakness, so that the tape will break along one of those lines and the rivet head can protrude through the tape. This may result in a small flap of paper tape extending away from the surface of the tape towards the outside of the rivet head, as illustrated at 23 in FIG. 3.

The provision of the lines of weakness in the paper tape prior to the application of the tape to the row of rivets assists in the efficient penetration of the rivet heads through the tape. If a similar package is formed of tapes which do not have the lines of weakness, it is found that, although the rivet heads will penetrate the tape, they do so by tearing the paper tape unevenly. This results in a package which is of much less attractive appearance, and moreover has larger apertures in the'tape due to the penetration of the rivet heads. These larger apertures do not allow the tape to retain the rivets so firmly in the package. In the package of the example described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the apertures formed in the tapes by the penetration of the rivet heads are no larger than is necessary to accommodate the thickness and diameter of the rivet head, so that the paper tape supports the rivet heads very closely, and can keep the rivets in the row in alignment with each other. This is important,

since the rivets in the package (when cut into lengths of about one foot) are intended to be loaded in one movement onto the non-expendable mandrel ofa repetition blind riveting tool, such as that used in the riveting process well known under the Trade Mark CHOB- ERT." If the bores of all the rivets are not in accurate alignment, it proves difficult or impossible to load the rivets onto the mandrel. It should also be noted that the low tack adhesive does not contaminate the outsides of the rivets, after the paper tapes have been torn away from the row of rivets loaded on the mandrel of the riveting tool.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing example. For instance, the lines of weakness need be provided in only one of the two tapes, although this would obviously lead to a less desirable form of package, unless the other tape had some other features which provided the advantages of the lines of weakness. It would be possible for some other material to be used instead of paper, for example metal foil, or a suitable sort of synthetic plastics material. Although the foregoing example describes two separate tapes, it would be possible for both tapes to be combined into one web of double the width, the web being folded centrally to provide in effect two tapes which are integral along one common edge.

I claim:

1. A package comprising a row of headed rivets arranged in line in head-to-tail relationship, arid two webs of packaging material secured together in face-to-face relationship with the row of rivets between them, at least one of the webs having a plurality of lines of weakness over a zone thereof which is spaced from the edges of the said one web, said zone overlying the row of rivets and having the lines of weakness extending transverse to the row of rivets, said lines of weakness being spaced apart by a distance which is small relative to the length of the rivets so that a plurality of said lines of weakness overlies each rivet, part of the head of each rivet protruding through an opening along a line of weakness of the said one web.

2. A package as defined by claim 1 in which both of said webs include zones containing lines of weakness.

3. A package according to claim 2, wherein thedistance between adjacent lines of weakness is about one eighth of the distance between adjacent rivet heads.

4. A package according to claim 2, wherein the length of each line of weakness is less than the diameter of the rivet heads.

5. A package according to claim 2, wherein both of the webs are in the form of elongate strips.

6. A package according to claim 5, wherein the zones provided with lines of weakness extend centrally along the length of each respective strip.

7. A package according to claim 2, wherein the lines of weakness are provided by cuts extending into the thickness of the respective web.

8. A package according to claim 7, wherein the cuts extend only part way through the thickness of the webs, and each web is penetrated along lines of weakness by the rivet heads.

9. A package according to claim 7, wherein the cuts extend entirely through the webs.

10.. A package according to claim 2, wherein the webs are formed of paper.

11. A package according to claim 2, wherein the webs are secured together by an adhesive.

12. A package according to claim 11 wherein the adhesive is low tack pressure sensitive adhesive.

13. A package according to claim 2, wherein the rivets are arranged in contiguous head-to-tail relationship. k 

1. A package comprising a row of headed rivets arranged in line in head-to-tail relationship, and two webs of packaging material secured together in face-to-face relationship with the row of rivets between them, at least one of the webs having a plurality of lines of weakness over a zone thereof which is spaced from the edges of the said one web, said zone overlying the row of rivets and having the lines of weakness extending transverse to the row of rivets, said lines of weakness being spaced apart by a distance which is small relative to the length of the rivets so that a plurality of said lines of weakness overlies each rivet, part of the head of each rivet protruding through an opening along a line of weakness of the said one web.
 2. A package as defined by claim 1 in which both of said webs include zones containing lines of weakness.
 3. A package according to claim 2, wherein the distance between adjacent lines of weakness is about one eighth of the distance between adjacent rivet heads.
 4. A package according to claim 2, wherein the length of each line of weakness is less than the diameter of the rivet heads.
 5. A package according to claim 2, wherein both of the webs are in the form of elongate strips.
 6. A package according to claim 5, wherein the zones provided with lines of weakness extend centrally along the length of each respective strip.
 7. A package according to claim 2, wherein the lines of weakness are provided by cuts extending into the thickness of the respective web.
 8. A package according to claim 7, wherein the cuts extend only part way through the thickness of the webs, and each web is penetrated along lines of weakness by the rivet heads.
 9. A package according to claim 7, wherein the cuts extend entirely through the webs.
 10. A package according to claim 2, wherein the webs are formed of paper.
 11. A package according to claim 2, wherein the webs are secured together by an adhesive.
 12. A package according to claim 11 wherein the adhesive is low tack pressure sensitive adhesive.
 13. A package according to claim 2, wherein the rivets are arranged in contiguous head-to-tail relationship. 